Access to vehicle rooftops, which may be as much as 7 to 8 feet from the ground, and truck beds and cargo stored there therefore beyond the reach of most people. To access such hard to reach areas, persons often climb onto a makeshift boost, such as, a vehicle doorway floorboard, upper portion of wheel, or bumper. However, such makeshift boosts are inconvenient and potentially hazardous, as they do not have suitable surfaces for footholds. Due to discomfort and hazards attendant to the minimal flat and slippery surface area thereby provided, they are not amenable to safe or extended use.
One makeshift boost to access rooftop and other hard to reach areas may include a trailer receiver hitch tube for receiving the shaft of a ball mount to which trailers, bicycle racks or other carriers. However, the thin transverse axis of the hitch tube and spherical configuration of any mounted hitch ball render such boosts cumbersome and hazardous for the purpose of providing a height boost to gain rooftop or truck bed access.
In the past, hitch receiver-mounted step systems for accessing rooftop and other cargo storage and carrier systems and truck beds have been developed. Such conventional hitch steps typically provide a flat step top surface and walls that surround a ball mount when in use and then may be moved to a storage position to expose the hitch ball when in and unused or stored position so a trailer may be hitched to the ball. Unfortunately, the storage position of such prior art steps has several drawbacks. Its upwardly exposed edge poses threat of injury. Hinges or other mechanisms for flipping the step from may be prone to mechanical failure, particularly following exposure to rain, snow, sleet, salt and other untoward road conditions. Moreover, use of the step is disabled when a trailer is hitched to the ball mount and the step thus placed in the stored or “up” position. Therefore, the step cannot be used while a trailer or other cargo carrier is hitched to the ball mount. However, the low, fixed position of the below-ball mount step provides limited access and adaptability to various uses. Thus, a need persists for a hitch mounted step addressing such and other problems with the prior art.